20th July 2012
ROLLING STONE'S MATT TAIBBI EXPLAINS THE LIBOR SCANDAL
This next video is an excerpt from Elliott Spitzer's show Viewpoint on Current TV. It has completely gone viral - for good reason.
It very nicely summarizes what the people have now learned as a result of the LIBOR scandal - and should be considered "required viewing" for anyone seeking to understand this.
July 3: Matt Taibbi Explains LIBOR Scandal – It’s Over for the Banking Cartel
THE ORIGINAL WRITEUP FROM CURRENT TV
Here is the original writeup of this show, as it appears on the Current TV website. Additional information is provided that is not in the video -- and it is nicely summarized.
July 3: Original Link on Current TV to Spitzer / Taibbi Interview
“Viewpoint” host Eliot Spitzer, Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone contributing editor, and Dennis Kelleher, president and CEO of Better Markets, analyze the Libor interest rate–rigging scandal engulfing the banking industry.
Barclays CEO Bob Diamond recently resigned after the bank was fined $453 million for its part in the scandal, which involved manipulating the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), a key global benchmark for interest rates, by essentially “faking their credit scores” according to Taibbi.
And as Taibbi explains, Barclays couldn’t have acted alone.
“It can’t just be Barclays and the Royal Bank of Scotland. In fact, it can’t even be four banks or even five banks,” he says. “Really, in the end it’s probably going to come out that it’s going to be all of them involved in this. And that’s what’s critical for people to understand: that this is a cartel-style corruption.”
Kelleher argues that the Libor scandal is proof that the financial industry “is corrupt and rotten to its core... The same executives [using] the same business model that crashed the entire financial system in ’08 are still running these banks,” he says.
AL-JAZEERA'S "INSIDE STORY" DOES A NICE JOB AS WELL
Television news often lacks explosive drama -- but not in the case of the July 4th episode of "Inside Story" on Al-Jazeera!
Beginning at 11:55, the host Mike Hannah asks Philip Booth, Programme Director for the Institute of Economic Affairs, if manipulation should become a crime, rather than a "moral mistake."
Then, at 12:26 into the video -- very shortly after Philip Booth begins his answer -- Max Keiser starts screaming that Philip Booth is lying.
It was quite a dramatic moment in the often-sterile world of television news.
The whole video is worth watching, but definitely check it out at 11:55 if you don't have time to see the rest.
Inside Story - Rigged bank rates: Is there more to come?
Published on Jul 4, 2012 by AlJazeeraEnglish
In the wake of the bank rate-rigging scandal, Bob Diamond, Barclays chief executive, announced his resignation from the post with immediate effect, on Tuesday.
In a statement, Diamond, who faced mounting calls to step down, said he made the decision as the external pressure on the bank has reached a level that risks "damaging the franchise".
Barclays Bank was fined a record $450m last week, for attempting to manipulate the London interbank offered rate, Libor, during the financial crisis between 2005 and 2009. Libor is a measure of how much banks have to pay to borrow from their rival and is worked out every day from estimates submitted by the major banks of their own interbank lending costs.
In a statement, Diamond, who faced mounting calls to step down, said he made the decision as the external pressure on the bank has reached a level that risks "damaging the franchise".
Barclays Bank was fined a record $450m last week, for attempting to manipulate the London interbank offered rate, Libor, during the financial crisis between 2005 and 2009. Libor is a measure of how much banks have to pay to borrow from their rival and is worked out every day from estimates submitted by the major banks of their own interbank lending costs.
July 4: Excellent Al-Jazeera “Inside Story” on LIBOR Scandal
TRANSCRIPT OF MAX KEISER'S BIG MELTDOWN
This event was significant enough of a "breakthrough" in mainstream media that I transcribed it.
Once Max Keiser starts yelling, I deleted all the overtalk so his message is presented intact:
MIKE HANNAH: [11:55] So the question here is, should some international body be regulating the regulators of a system that appears to assume that everyone acts honestly?
And, Philip Booth, should the emphasis be on legal rather than regulatory sanction? In other words, make manipulation a crime, rather than some moral mistake?
PHILIP BOOTH: Yes, I really don't understand the point of view that suggests that somehow London is very lightly regulated markets, and that's why all this fraud and these misdemeanors take place.
MAX KEISER: (screaming) Because that's the reality of the situation! OK?
Stop peddling out lies! Deregulation? There's NO regulation!
You can re-hypothecate to infinity in London! Stop telling lies!
People are being suffered for austerity because panel members like that are lying!
That's absolutely unacceptable! You can't have somebody come on your show and lie like that!
London is a cesspool! There is no regulation -- and the Bank of England is totally implicated in this scandal! [MICRPHONE TURNED OFF]
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